On October 31st, we celebrate Halloween. The three days between October 31st and November 2nd see pagan and Christian celebrations intertertwined in a fascinating way. All Hallow’s Eve, usually called Hallowe’en (Hallows Eve), is followed by All Hallows’ Day which is also know as All Saints Day (All Hallows’ Day). The next day is All Souls’ Day, and the three day period is a perfect example of superstition struggling with religious belief.

Hallowe’en is derived from an ancient Celtic festival, Samhain. The Celts celebrated their New Year’s Eve on October 31st. It was celebrated every year with a festival called Samhain (pronounced ’sow-in’), that marked the end of the “season of the sun” (Summer) and the beginning of “the season of darkness and cold” ( Winter). The beginning of the Celtic New Year on November 1st. The Celts believed that evil spirits came with the long hours of winter darkness. They believed that on that night the barriers between our world and the spirit world were at their weakest and therefore spirits were most likely to be seen on earth. The Celts built bonfires to frighten the spirits away, and feasted and danced around the fires. The Hallowe’en fires brought comfort to the souls in purgatory* and people prayed for them as they held burning straw up high. (*Purgatory is a place where souls are temporarily punished for venial sins. After they have been punished enough, they are permitted to move on to heaven.) The fires of Hallowe’en burned the strongest in Scotland and Ireland, where Celtic influence was most pronounced, although they lingered on in some of the northern counties of England until the early years of the last century. The last night of October was transformed by the Church into the vigil of All Saints’ or Hallowe’en. Christians believe that goodwill always conquers evil, and that Jesus, the light of the World, defeats all the fear of darkness. In England the day of fires became November 5th (Bonfire Night), the anniversary of the Gunpowder plot of 1605, but its closeness to Hallowe’en is more than a coincidence. Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night have a common origin they both originated from pagan times, when the evil spirits of darkness had to be driven away with noise and fire. In Lancashire, ‘Lating’ or ‘Lighting the witches’ was an important Hallowe’en custom. People would carry candles from eleven to midnight. If the candles burned steadily the carriers were safe for the season, but if the witches blew them out, the omen was bad indeed. In parts of the north of England Hallowe’en was known as Nut-crack Night. Nuts were put on the fire and, according to their behaviour in the flames, forecast faithfulness in sweethearts and the success or failure of marriages. Hallowe’en was also sometimes called Snap Apple Night, in England. A game called snap apple was played where apples were suspended on a long piece of string. Contestants had to try an bite the apple without using their hands. A variation of the game was to fix an apple and a lighted candle at opposite ends of a stick suspended horizontally and to swing the stick round. The object was to catch the apple between the teeth whilst avoiding the candle. Many places in England combined Hallowe’en with Mischief Night (celebrated on 4 November), when boys played all kinds of practical jokes on their neighbours. They changed shop signs, took gates off their hinges, whitewashed doors, and tied door latches. Find out more about Mischief Night Another tradition from which Halloween customs might have come from is a ninth century European custom, souling. It was a Christian festival where people would make house calls begging for soul cakes. It was believed that even strangers could help a soul’s journey to heaven by saying prayers, so, in exchange for a cake they promised to pray for the donors’ deceased relatives.